Niger: UN humanitarian operations are 'on hold', says spokesperson
Ousted president's party HQ set ablaze in Niger
A United Nations spokesman said on Thursday (July 27) that UN operations have been suspended in Niger due to a coup. The number of people who need humanitarian assistance in Niger has now dramatically risen from 1.7 million in 2017 to 4.3 million in 2023, as per numbers with the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Moreover, the number of people suffering from severe food insecurity is expected to reach three million during the lean season (June to August), before the next harvest, it said.
OCHA "is telling us that humanitarian operations are currently on hold, given the situation," UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.
Chief of Niger's armed forces on Thursday declared his support for troops who said that they had overthrown the government, in spite of President Mohamed Bazoum's defiant stand.
The 63-year-old is one of a dwindling group of elected presidents and pro-Western leaders in the Sahel, where since 2020 a rampaging jihadist insurgency has triggered coups in Mali and Burkina Faso.
Niger is struggling with two jihadist campaigns. One of them in the southwest that swept Mali in 2015. The other is in the southeast which involves jihadists from northeastern Nigeria.
The nation of 22 million is two-thirds desert and frequently ranks at the bottom of the UN's Human Development Index, a benchmark of prosperity.
Development in Niger hinder UN in Mali
United Nations spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said on Thursday that Niger coup may have a negative impact on UN peacekeepers withdrawing their decade-long peacekeeping operation in neighbouring Mali.
The UN Security Council last month ended the mission in Mali after the West African country's military junta abruptly asked the 13,000-strong force to leave - a move the United States said was engineered by Russia's Wagner mercenary group.
Chad has contributed 1400 troops in Mali mission, most by any participating nation. But coup in Niger may now make it difficult for them to return home. he Security Council has asked the peacekeeping mission to aim to complete its withdrawal by the end of this year.
(With inputs from agencies)
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